Public and Patient Involvement & Engagement

PPI&E stands for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement. It’s about working with people, not just for them, to shape research that matters to their lives. At SCONe, PPIE is central to how we work. We involve people with lived experience and members of the wider public at every stage of our research to ensure it is meaningful, inclusive, and grounded in real needs across Scotland.

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) focuses on direct collaboration, where people help shape research questions, design studies, and guide how results are shared. Public Engagement (PE), on the other hand, focuses on open dialogue and sharing knowledge more broadly, helping to build trust, raise awareness, and invite new voices into the research conversation. Together, PPI and PE create a stronger, more inclusive approach to research, shifting it from something done to or for the public, to something done with and by them. 

SCONe’s PPI&E strategy was co-developed with its Patient and Public Involvement group and follows a three-tier model: involvement, engagement, and consultation. Each tier serves a different purpose but together they ensure public voices shape the project meaningfully.

The involvement tier centers on direct collaboration between researchers and members of the public through a dedicated steering group, influencing decisions and project direction. The engagement tier focuses on building transparency and public trust by sharing relevant information and creating meaningful opportunities for dialogue in events or activities such as sciences festivals, workshops, videos. Consultation, while less interactive, ensures that wider public perspectives, especially from those not directly involved, are still reflected in the project’s priorities.

Together, these three tiers form the backbone of SCONe’s PPI&E strategy, establishing a dynamic and inclusive model that strengthens the relevance, accountability, and trustworthiness of data science research.